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View Full Version : How much Polypropylene do i need?



Tekka
11-14-2007, 03:04 PM
I just finished putting together my first saber when i fired up my Lux 3 cyan and noticed it didn't light up the blade very evenly and wasnt very bright at all. Maybe my Batteries needed recharging or maybe my lux was dying but overall i wasnt very happy with it. I read that using polypropylene wrap in combination with the corbin film will give it a really nice even glow. I ran to the nearest World Market and bought the exact wrap and was wondering how much i should use. Would 3 time around in combo with the double wrap of corbin film be overkill? Also how do i go about cutting the gift wrap paper perfectly?

I am using a 1" thin wall 36" PolyC tube, 5 degree lens with double wrap of corbin's film and a mirrored tip. powered by 4 1.2v NiMH rechargables direct driven with a 2w 1 ohm resistor.

Jonitus
11-14-2007, 03:11 PM
Somewhere in the realm of 4 to 6 feet of the stuff rolled up in the blade. It seems like a lot, but trust us.

Tekka
11-14-2007, 03:19 PM
wow are you serious? my roll is only 30in x 20ft maybe i should return it and try to find a 4in roll

4ft of polyp + double wrap of blade film? is any light gonna show thru that much?

Jonitus
11-14-2007, 03:25 PM
The many, many layers of polypropylene act like a series of mirrors that bounce the light back and forth and help to even the light out.

Oh, it will shine through, and it will be glorious. Make sure you have a dust free (as is possible) environment to roll the stuff. PolyP has a lot of static cling and it loves cat hair, dog hair, and dust particles.

Tekka
11-14-2007, 03:32 PM
i guess i should go back to world market and try to find a 40in roll wonder how much it cost

Tekka
11-14-2007, 07:10 PM
OH MY BUDDHA the polypropylene made a GINORMOUS difference in eveness. I used about 5ft of this stuff. There is no longer any dark spot, the tip of the blade is just as bright as the base all for only $2.79. I don't think i'll ever build another saber without using polypropylene. I'll post pics of my saber on friday when i get home from school.

xwingband
11-14-2007, 07:38 PM
OH MY BUDDHA the polypropylene made a GINORMOUS difference in eveness. I used about 5ft of this stuff. There is no longer any dark spot, the tip of the blade is just as bright as the base all for only $2.79. I don't think i'll ever build another saber without using polypropylene. I'll post pics of my saber on friday when i get home from school.

Welcome to the club! I think the combo type blade totally needs to be highlighted because it does rock so much.

If you plan on many blades perhaps a dedicated roll of PolyP is in order. I ordered from www.papermart.com and was satisfied. $10-15 will get you a 40" x 100' or o roll.

Tekka
11-14-2007, 08:17 PM
lol this stuff is so awesome.
I couldn't find any 40" rolls at the store so i asked a girl working there and she asked why i needed such a large roll. I told her i need 5ft x 36in to roll and put into a tube. What she said next made me feel like a complete retard. She asked why couldn't i put two rolls of 36" x 30" since 30" + 30"= 5ft :shock: I felt so stupid lol...
Anyways i went home and tried this idea and found a minor flaw. It's a huge pain to roll 2 sheets of film and stick it in the tube. Constantly taking out the film and reinserting it , took me like 2 hrs before all the films were perfect.
Thx for the link next time i'll just get 40" film to save me the trouble.

Jay-gon Jinn
11-14-2007, 10:08 PM
You didn't try to roll all the films at once and then put them in the blade, did you? I always install the Corbin film first, then roll up the polyP and install that. It also helps to roll the film on a 3/4" dowel rod for the 1" thin walled blades and a 1/2" dowel for the thick walled blades.

Obi-Dar Ke-Gnomie
11-14-2007, 10:49 PM
I did the same thing you did, Tekka. I bought a roll of gift wrap from Wally World. 30" wide x 10' long. I cut it into two pieces as long as my blade and put one inside the other, inside a 4x wrap of Corbin's film. Looks great, but I agree that it's a pain to do it like that. I had the hardest time getting it in there straight.

I also experimented with colored gift wrap, outside of the Corbin wrap, but I found that it dimmed the blade too much even with only a couple of wraps.

Tekka
11-15-2007, 12:40 AM
These pics were taken with my crappy 2mp camera phone. I just wanted to show the evenness of the glow
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/Tekka1/IMAGE_005.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/Tekka1/IMAGE_006.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/Tekka1/IMAGE_007.jpg

X
11-15-2007, 09:25 PM
Ok stupid question from a 1st saber newbie everyone says PolyP Gift Wrap. what is it exactly? is it clear, colored. I'm waiting on my parts for my first saber and I like the look of these blades.

Jonitus
11-15-2007, 09:34 PM
It is referred to as "clear gift wrap", but what makes it so valuable to us in the saber building hobby, is that a roll of it takes on a metallic look when in the blade and it's somewhat reflective nature is multiplied and helps to even the glow of the blade out dramatically.

X
11-15-2007, 10:07 PM
Thanx I'll have to go pick some up for when my parts get here.

Jedi-Loreen
11-15-2007, 11:41 PM
How do you guys store these blades, once you put the gift wrap inside, to keep dust and hair from getting inside it?

I have some of the wrap, but I still haven't tried it in my Corbin film blade. I tried it alone, in an empty polycarb tube, and tried to keep it clean, but still had a bunch of dust particles on it.

I'd want some sort of "cap" to put on over the opening in the bottom. like a rubber chair foot or something?

Lord Maul
11-15-2007, 11:43 PM
I use a cane tip for mine.

Jedi-Loreen
11-15-2007, 11:58 PM
Ah, thanks.

Anyone else? Just curious.

Novastar
11-16-2007, 03:21 AM
I know this won't REALLY help you, JL, but...

Seeing as most of my sabers are in usage bloody ALL the time... the blades mainly stay in the hilt. These all go in two bags that I have--one which is a "kendo shinai" bag made for tons of shinai... and another which is a fencing equipment bag which I altered a bit. Keeps dust out in general even if I take extra blades and toss 'em in there.

I have one staff, and I have to remove one blade (always) in order to store it. So far, no real problems with dust... although my blades always get the hull beat outta them...

Hasid Lafre
11-16-2007, 05:07 AM
When I did my blade last I wrapted corbins film in the last few inches of the polyp. to keep it togeather and helps keep it all in there without having to hot glue it in.

Iam gonna try rebuilding the blade again and this time iam gonna do it in the cleanest enviroment possable.

Jay-gon Jinn
11-16-2007, 08:21 AM
Most peoplejust use the rubber cahir legs to cover the end of the blade when it's not in use. T

The main reason I used the combo of films is that the Corbin film helps hide the dust you'll get on the cellophane while rolling it up. unless you've a "clean room" set-up like Ultra does, (he explained to me how to make one, but I haven't gotten around to it yet) you'll get dust on the film everytime you roll it up. I use a clean lint free cloth the clean the film as i'm rolling it up on the dowel rod to help keep down on the larger particles of dirt that cling to the film...it helps, but I still get a few small pieces of dust on it.

petriomelony
11-16-2007, 09:53 AM
i suppose there's no way to perhaps "ground" the polyp to eliminate the static, right? though now that i think about it, maybe a fine spritz of water?

Jonitus
11-16-2007, 09:56 AM
I wipe the PolyP with a rag lightly sprayed with Endust or Pledge as I roll. It helps to keep the dust off. My blades aren't contaminated, and my house has two cats and a dog.

Hasid Lafre
11-16-2007, 10:38 AM
pledge huh? gonna have to try that

petriomelony
11-16-2007, 11:47 AM
sweet :) that sounds good.

i also just thought of maybe dryer sheets... they have an anti-static chemical, right?

Jonitus
11-16-2007, 12:00 PM
Yes. Dryer sheets would work nice too. Plus, your blade would smell spring-time fresh

:lol:

ArkaiHalon
11-16-2007, 01:28 PM
I've got one of Jay-Gon's blades, and I don't see any dust in it. even with my son pulling the blade out. alot.

Eandori
11-16-2007, 01:55 PM
First off, big props goes out to Erv' Plecter for introducing the cellophane/polypropolene method to us saber smiths! I've been using his method since June and posted all kinds of pictures of my sabers since then and taken lots of pictures showing how even they are with his method. It rocks!

I only use like 3-4 feet wide single sheet of clear wrap. I got my roll from a local crafting store (Michaels) and it was only a few bucks for the entire role that I have used for 5 sabers now. Still with a lot left.

Stuff getting stuck in the wrap... yeah that's one of the challenges. I wash a towel or blanket then take it straight from the dryer and lay it on my bed the roll it up on a thin tube for insertion into the lightsaber tube.

Here's my method step by step so far...
1. Cut my saber tube to the desired length. Clean up the cut edges with a moto-tool. Then squash some toilet paper into the tube and ram it through to remove debris from the cut.
2. Cut a small reflective mylar or mirror to the shape of the saber tube cap and glue the mirror onto the cap, and the cap onto the saber tube.
3. Roll Erv's film or TCSS fiberoptic film up on a thin tube/dowel (I use the red plastic tube that used to cover the blue LED's in a Mace Windu saber...)
4. Insert the fiberoptic film into the saber tube and unroll (reverse roll direction) while gently moving the insertion tube in and out. I get the fiberoptic film as FLAT as I can on the inside of the tube. Use the insertion tube/dowl as your tool to get it FLAT so you can see the mirror on the backside of the tip when looking down the empty saber tube. Cut the fiberoptic paper sticking out the end but leave about 1 inch sticking out for now...
5. Cut 3-4 feet of polypropolene(cellophane) clear wrap. Roll it onto your tube/dowl for insertion. Using the same method as the fiberoptic paper, unroll the polypropolene and get it as flat as possible. Make sure you can still see the mirror at the tip afterwards.
6. Cut the polypropolene to the same 1" sticking out the end of the tube size. Then using small sharp scissors, pull both fiberoptic wrap and polypropolene wrap out the back of the saber tube about 1/4 inch and cut a sharp line around both. Slide both films into the saber tube again.

You are done! Insert blade to your saber and power on! Here's how some of mine turned out.

My Red/Orange K2 Custom Saber next to a stock MR Maul and Red Lux III Windu conversion.
http://home.comcast.net/~eandori/RedDiffuseComp2.JPG

My Green Lux V custom saber against stock MR's
http://home.comcast.net/~eandori/TCSS_5.JPG

Jedi-Loreen
11-16-2007, 03:30 PM
I also bought my roll of clear wrap from Michael's. I think it's about 3 feet long, so that's the width I use.

I'm going to an Event tonight, so I wanted to redo my "exhibition" blade (as opposed to my "battle blade" :wink: ).

I got out my Corbin blade and looked inside and saw lots of dust particles inside, so I pulled it out and cleaned it with a clean Swiffer pad, since it would pick up the dust particles, then reinserted it.

Then unrolled the clear wrap onto a clean granite table and cut off 40", then rolled in onto my wood dowel and inserted it into the blade. Some how I got a couple little crinkles at the tip end, but I hope they will work themselves out a bit.

I'm quite pleased at how it evened up the lighting of the blade though. I'd never tried it yet, only see people's photos of the results.

I made a temporary end cap of masking tape. First, I took a 2" piece and put it over the end, sticky side out, and stuck it to itself on the sides. Then I took some 1" and wrapped it over and around the first layer of tape so there's no adhesive exposed.

Jay-gon Jinn
11-16-2007, 04:26 PM
I've got one of Jay-Gon's blades, and I don't see any dust in it. even with my son pulling the blade out. alot.

That's 'cause I sent you my best one!

This method also works well with an internally sanded blade, too. I've done about 6 so far, and they look pretty good!

ArkaiHalon
11-16-2007, 04:54 PM
[quote="Jay-gon Jinn"]That's 'cause I sent you my best one![quote]

My son thanks you. He loves his real "lisaber" and insists we duel every night.

cdnmustang
12-30-2008, 09:30 PM
just finished this tonight, wow what a difference, seeing as its my first ever saber i don't have much to refer too but. i got a simple sinktube with a green lux3 with a 5deg and a 36" corbins quad wrapped.

i went with only 3 feet of poly as my blade didn't have as much flaring as others i've seen here. thanks guys for the info :D

Matt Thorn
12-31-2008, 10:05 PM
I'm having a hard time finding this in Japan. (Paper Mart doesn't ships overseas.) The closest thing I've found is a roll half a meter wide and 30 meters long. Would it be pointless to use just a foot and a half? It sounds like inserting two or more pieces is pretty tricky. Does anyone know of an online vendor that ships globally?

Jay-gon Jinn
12-31-2008, 10:36 PM
I haven't had any trouble inserting two rolls of film iside a blade. If all you can find is a half-meter wide oll, just cut two pieces from it length-wise, roll one up, insert it into the blade, then do the same with the next piece. Add more if you feel it needs it.

Matt Thorn
12-31-2008, 10:55 PM
I haven't had any trouble inserting two rolls of film iside a blade. If all you can find is a half-meter wide oll, just cut two pieces from it length-wise, roll one up, insert it into the blade, then do the same with the next piece. Add more if you feel it needs it.

Thanks! I'll give it a try.

Jay-gon Jinn
01-01-2009, 08:17 AM
Thanks! I'll give it a try.
I wrote a tutorial of how I use the shorter gift wrap to make an led blade over at FX-Sabers:
http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=14080.0
That might help you out for what you're looking to do.

Matt Thorn
01-01-2009, 09:09 AM
I wrote a tutorial of how I use the shorter gift wrap to make an led blade over at FX-Sabers:
http://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=14080.0
That might help you out for what you're looking to do.

That will be a massive help. Just hope I can find an equivalent of that weld here in Japan. I'm sure there is one: it's just a matter of identifying it. Do you know if there's a generic non-brand name for that type of weld?

Jay-gon Jinn
01-01-2009, 01:37 PM
That will be a massive help. Just hope I can find an equivalent of that weld here in Japan. I'm sure there is one: it's just a matter of identifying it. Do you know if there's a generic non-brand name for that type of weld?

I don't know if there is or not...just look for an acrylic bonding agent, or welder.

Matt Thorn
01-02-2009, 04:30 AM
I don't know if there is or not...just look for an acrylic bonding agent, or welder.

Thanks, Jay-gon. I'll look around.